Stephen David Darby (born 15 January 1955) is an English

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach and former player. He is well known throughout

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

as a pundit for ESPN Star Sports.

Managerial career

Bahrain

Darby started his football manager career in 1978 where his first coaching role is with the Bahrain national team.

Australia

Darby relocated to Australia and by 1981 he was director of soccer coaching in

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

. In March 1987 he joined the ACT Academy of Soccer; he later became director of soccer coaching for

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory until 1938, is an internal States and territories of Australia, territory of Australia. Canberra, the capital city of Australia, is situated within the territory, an ...

's teams. In February 1989, he was appointed coach of the women's Australia B (Gold team) for the Oceania Cup held in Brisbane in March. His team defeated Papua New Guinea 2–0 in their first game. They drew 0–0 against Australia A (Green team), but lost against both Chinese Taipei (0–4) and New Zealand (0-2). Australia B finished equal third with Australia A – their playoff game was washed out and abandoned. By August Darby was the Australia's Female Socceroos' coach. He was arguing for "total freedom of choice in the selection of my immediate staff" and a contract system for players.

Sydney Olympic

In 1995, Darby was appointed by Australian semi-professional club

Sydney Olympic Sydney Olympic Football Club is an Australian semi-professional soccer club, based in Belmore, Sydney, New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states o ...

as the club manager.

Johor FA

In 1998, Darby was appointed as the Malaysian club manager at

Johor FA Johor Darul Ta'zim Football Club II (; ) or simply JDT II is a feeder club for Johor Darul Ta'zim. The club set to play in Malaysia A1 Semi-Pro League from 2025–26, the second tier of the Malaysian football league system. Club's names * ...

Vietnam women

In January 2001, Darby was appointed by the Vietnam women national team as their head coach.

Home United

In September 2002, S.League club

Home United Lion City Sailors Football Club, commonly referred to as the Sailors or LCS, is a Singaporean professional football club based in Bishan. It competes in the Singapore Premier League, the top tier of the Singapore football league system. Founded ...

hired Darby as their manager. In his time at the club, he steered Home United to win the cup double in 2003 which is the 2003 S.League and the 2003 Singapore Cup. Darby also steered them to win the 2005 Singapore Cup.

Perak FA

On 8 November 2005, Darby then moved to Malaysia again but this time to signed with

Perak FA Perak Football Club (Perak FC) was a professional football team based in Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia. Founded in 1921, it was one of the oldest football clubs in the country and last competed in the Malaysia Super League. Formerly overseen by the P ...

Thailand

On 17 July 2008, Darby was appointed as the assistant coach under

Peter Reid Peter Reid (born 20 June 1956) is an English football manager, pundit and former player. A defensive midfielder in his playing days, Reid enjoyed a long and successful career. He built his reputation as one of England's brightest midfield tale ...

for the Thailand national team while Darby was also appointed as Thailand U23 head coach.

Mohun Bagan

On 19 July 2011, Darby was appointed at Indian club

Mohun Bagan Mohun Bagan Super Giant, commonly referred to as Mohun Bagan, is an Indian professional football club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. Founded in 1889, it is one of the oldest football clubs in Asia. The club competes in the Indian Super League, ...

as their manager however his reign fell short as he was sacked on 15 October.

Kelantan

In January 2014, Darby returned to Malaysia to signed with

Kelantan Kelantan (; Kelantan-Pattani Malay, Kelantanese Malay: ''Klate''; ) is a state in Malaysia. The capital, Kota Bharu, includes the royal seat of Kubang Kerian. The honorific, honorific name of the state is ''Darul Naim'' ("The Blissful Abode"). ...

as the club manager.

Mumbai City

In July 2014, Darby reunited with Peter Reid as his assistant at

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is a professional association football league in India and the highest level of the Indian football league system. Administered by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and its commercial partner Football Sport ...

club Mumbai City where he coached

Nicolas Anelka Nicolas Sébastien Anelka (born 14 March 1979) is a French professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who played as a Forward (association football), forward. As a player, he regularly featur ...

and

Freddie Ljungberg Karl Fredrik "Freddie" Ljungberg ( ; born 16 April 1977) is a Swedish former professional association football, footballer who played as a Midfielder#Winger, winger. He is also a former Manager (association football), manager, and was most recent ...

, who were by then approaching retirement.

Laos

In May 2015, Darby was approached by

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

as the team head coach where it became his third national team stint that he coached.

Honours

As Manager

Home United

* S.League:

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

Singapore Cup The Singapore Cup is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic Singaporean football. Established in 1998, it is the foremost prestigious cup competition in the country. It is open to clubs in the Singapore Premier League. Since ...

: 2003, 2005

References

External links